The Prince's Ballerina
by The Prince's Phoenix
Summary: Severus Snape has played many roles in his life but nothing could have prepared him for his newest one...fatherhood. Set before the Epilogue of Once Upon a Dream, Severus struggles to connect with his little girl and may need her help in learning just what it is to be a father.


**A/N: This is an additional One Shot that goes along with the Severus/OC Romance story, Once Upon A Dream. This may be read with our without reading the original story. Story is set a few years before the Epilogue. Dedicated to mkwiant! I hope you enjoy and please don't forget to review! **

The Prince's Ballerina

"I still don't understand why you can't just bring him back to our house tonight."

"Severus, we have been over this before. It would take hours to drive back here from London and Uncle Steven refuses to travel by magic. Who can blame the man after that disastrous apparation incident last summer?"

"Yes, the old man did look pea green for the next six hours."

"Then you really can't expect a man who has just completed surgery to put himself at risk of being ill. It is just not logical, and it is not my fault that he refuses to link our houses through the floo. He is worried that it would frighten the customers."

"Very well," he conceded with a huff. "But you will return first thing tomorrow?"

"Yes, Sev, I promise I will be home first thing tomorrow morning just in time for Mass."

Severus rolled his eyes at his wife's insistence of attending church every single Sunday. Ever since their daughter had been born, Clara had stuck to her guns and made sure that the Snape family was there together, bright and early each week. He tried at first to resist it, having never stepped foot in a church before, but quickly found he enjoyed the experience…though he never admitted it to his wife. Even he had to admit that their small family had a lot to be thankful for. For one, the fact that they were even standing here having this conversation was a blessing, after they both had nearly lost their lives in the Final Battle against the Dark Lord. Nearly five years had passed since they were married, and it had been almost four years since their daughter Phoenix had come into the world. This would be the first time that Severus would be left alone. Well, alone with his daughter.

That was really the problem with the situation. It was not that Severus didn't adore his baby girl. In fact the very second the little raven-haired beauty had come into the world, Severus knew he would never be the same. He loved his little baby, but the problem was that she was no longer just that; a baby. She was now blossoming into a very energetic, artistic and extremely feminine little _girl_. That was where the problem truly was. He had no earthly idea how to handle himself around her anymore. When she was just a little, cooing baby he could just carry her around, rocking her gently until a heavenly smile would appear across her delightful little face. It was nothing to find him working in his lab or shuffling through his library with a sleeping Phoenix strapped to his back in one of those Muggle contraptions Clara's sister had insisted on buying them. But all too quickly, that innocent, tiny baby began growing, walking, talking and rapidly forming her own opinions, likes and dislikes.

Now this would normally make Severus very proud to see that his daughter was developing into her own person so quickly, except for that development could really only be summed up into one work; pink. Everything surrounding her little girl's world revolved around cutesy, glittery, shinny, rainbows and lollypops…pink. After nearly twenty years of educating children he had honestly never witnessed a girl more fascinated with, well, being a _girl_. If she wasn't finger painting some monstrosity of a prancing pony ridding up to an enchanted castle, she was designing outfits to go on that wretched plastic Barbie doll. Merlin, he hated that thing. Now her obsession had firmly landed into all things ballet. She twilled and jumped and floated around the house, blasting The Nutcracker or Swan Lake till he just couldn't handle it anymore. What made the whole situation even worse was the fact that he was terrified. Terrified that he could no longer relate to his little baby. Terrified that just like his father, he wouldn't be able to connect to his little girl, and now his wife was leaving him for the night and he would be left alone with _her_.

"You promise it will only be this one night?" he asked for probably the sixth time that day.

"Yes, darling, I promise. Now listen, I've got dinner in the crock-pot and there is a fresh carton of Nixy's favorite ice cream in the freezer. Maybe later tonight you could fix you both a bowl and go down and eat it on the beach?"

Severus grunted his response as he leaned in to kiss his wife.

"Severus, please spend some time with her. She is growing up so fast," she whispered against his lips. "She loves you so much. Just try, okay?"

Severus kissed her deeply; once again giving thanks that he had this woman in his life. "I will try, love, sometimes I just worry…" He let his thoughts fade away, hoping that she would just drop the subject.

"What, Severus? What do you worry about? That she doesn't love you? Because one second with her would suggest otherwise."

"I just worry sometimes that I am too damaged. That I am not capable at understanding what it is to be a loving father. What if after all that I went through with my own father and then with my involvement with the Dark Lord…"

"Made you into the man I love today, Severus. You are not those men, you are _you_ and you're going to have to figure out what kind of father you want to be. Other than Albus you were never given the opportunity to see someone model a loving father-child relationship. That only means that you will have to be the brilliant scientist that you are and experiment and try new things until you figure out what works for you."

Severus let out a loud breath and planted another kiss on his wife's forehead. "I suppose I can try. But don't expect me to play _dolls_ with her. I can't stand those blasted things."

Clara gave a small giggle as she pulled away. "Just figure out what works for you, darling. That is all I ask. She is upstairs napping now but it is close to time for her to get up. Why don't you go get her?"

"Fine," he grunted. "You know, I liked you better when you were afraid of me sometimes."

"Oh, Sev, that only lasted a few moments. It didn't take me long to see what a sweet softy you were."

"I am not a _softy_, madam," he growled, folding his arms as he glared down at his grinning wife.

"No, maybe not…but you are sweet," she laughed as she bounced out the door, shutting it behind her before he could give a retort.

Severus let out a huff again as he took in his now silent house. "Sometimes dealing with a room full of idiot Death Eaters was easier than living in a house controlled by women," he muttered to himself. He let his gaze shift to the stairway that led up to his daughter's tiny bedroom. He had hoped to work in his lab today but then Clara had sprung her leaving on him at the last moment. Blast her Muggle uncle. What kind of surgery was he even having? The man seemed perfectly fine to him. With heavy footsteps he moped his way up to wake his daughter.

She of course was already awake. Did the child ever really sleep? As soon as he opened her white washed door a tiny, yet high pitched, squeal alerted him to her current state of consciousness. "DADDY!" she cried as she literally leapt from her bed with her hands in the air above her head and her toes pointed in what he assumed was some ballet move. He didn't know. "We are going to have the bestest day in the whole world together."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, and do you want to guess why?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"Oh come on, daddy! Guess, guess!"

"Is it because it is Saturday and you do not have nursery school today?" he guessed, fishing around in brain for every conceivable answer.

"Wrong," she yelled, following it up with the sound of an obnoxious buzzer noise that she had heard while watching American sports games with her uncle.

"Is it because you are allowed to have ice cream on Saturdays?" Surely this was the correct answer.

"Well that is a good thing...but…WRONG!" Another headache inducing buzzer sound. "Only one more guess, daddy."

"Oh, how disappointing," he drawled. He really did need to work on his sarcasm. Clara always told him that it was most unbecoming.

"Is it because you have decided to change out of that silly little dance costume you have worn for four straight days now and put on big girls clothing?" Please, Merlin, let it be that.

"No, daddy!" she laughed as if that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever said. "I am a ballerina and ballerinas must wear this."

"Oh, well excuse me. I am afraid I have not come across very many witch ballerina's in my day."

"I know!" she squealed. "I am going to be the first!"

"So what is it, Phoenix? Why is this going to be the grandest of days?"

"Because, daddy, I get to spend it all with you!"

Severus' breath caught in his throat. He stood frozen looking down at his precious little girl not knowing exactly how to respond. What had he done to deserve such blind devotion? But that was exactly what he saw when he looked down onto her chocolate pudding smeared face. "I…well…thank you, Phoenix. That is quite a nice thing to say," he finally managed to stammer.

Phoenix continued to grin up at her father with a look of expectation clearly written on her face. "So what are we doing today, daddy?"

"Oh, well I was planning on working downstairs in my lab."

The little girl's smile faltered but did not fall completely. However it was enough that Severus caught it and suddenly felt a wave of sickening guilt hit him in the gut. He really didn't spend enough time with her, but how could he? They had nothing in common. "I suppose you could accompany me if you promise not to touch anything."

"Oh, thank you, daddy! I love watching all the pretty colors you make. Will you make that pink potion again?"

She must have been talking about the hybrid version of Amortentia he had made a few weeks ago for a conference in America he had traveled to. How the little girl could remember that yet she still couldn't tie her own shoes was beyond him. "No, Phoenix, I will not be making the pink one. If you must know I am working on a potion that could possibly cure a rather rare strain of influenza."

"Ewww, that doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me."

"No it wouldn't," he sighed. "You may stay up here and play until dinner if you would like."

"NO!" she cried, latching her little arms around his leg. "I want to stay with you. I will be quiet, daddy, I promise!"

"Very well, Phoenix, but you must promise not to touch anything and to do exactly as I say."

The little girl nodded and smiled brightly as she followed her father out the door and down to the bottom level of their home. Soon after Severus had married Clara he magically created a basement potions lab for their cottage. Due to the close proximity to the ocean, the house was not originally been developed with one. Clara had laughed the first time he had shown it to her because it was almost a carbon copy of his lab from Hogwarts, complete with shabby stonewalls and torches for lighting. She always felt it looked more like a torture chamber than lab. It suited Severus just fine.

"I am sure I do not have to explain to you again how dangerous it can be if you get too close to these caldrons," he snapped as his daughter skipped her way over to his work station.

"No, daddy," replied Phoenix. "You have told me that about a billion times already."

"You may go sit over there," he said gesturing to a small stool by his spare worktable. "I need to add a few ingredients to a burn-healing paste and then I will start on my new potion. It is extremely important to remember…" But he let his words trail off as soon as he noticed that his daughter obviously could care less about what he was saying. She merely sat dangling her little legs with one thumb stuck secularly in her mouth and the other twirling in her curly hair, much like his wife tended to do.

Phoenix gave him a sweet little nod and blindly watched him work. They made it an impressive five minutes in silence before her toe began tapping on the chair leg. A few minutes later her little voice began ringing through silence as she started humming some annoyingly cheerful tune. No doubt one of those Disney movies her mother had bought her. Another few moments brought the addition of a squeaking chair as she began rocking back and forward.

"Phoenix!" he hissed. "Can you kindly sit still and be silent?"

"No, daddy," she giggled, flashing him yet another smile.

"And way is that?" he asked as he put down the spoon he had been using to stir.

"Because I'm a little girl."

Severus raised his eyebrow and gave a sigh. "Of course," he murmured. "Would you like to come stand next to me and watch?"

You would have thought that Father Christmas himself had walked through the door judging by the look on her little face. "YES!" Not bothering to wait on his instructions she pulled over her little stool and crawled up on top of it. "I can be your sidekick, daddy."

"I believe the term is _assistant_, Phoenix."

Phoenix shrugged it off with little interest but kept her gaze fixed on every move her father made. "It smells funny."

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"Smells like butt."

"Phoenix, we don't use language like that."

"Sorry…it smells like bottom."

"Much better."

"It's green."

"Correct."

"Can I eat it?"

"No."

"Can you eat it?"

"No, Phoenix, it is experimental so no one can eat it right now."

"Oh."

"Anymore pointless questions?"

"No, I'm finished…for now."

The next few minutes were blessed with silence and for a brief period in time Severus nearly forgot about the antsy preschooler standing next to him. That was…until the sneeze. Completely forgetting her manners that her mother had worked so hard to instill in her, Phoenix let out a large, explosive sneeze right over the simmering caldron in front of her. After catching her breath and wiping the moisture from her eyes, she froze in her spot, not wanting to look up at her father.

"Oh…I'm sorry, daddy. I told you it smelled funny."

Severus however was not looking at his little girl. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the potion sitting directly in front of them. It had been a constant lime green color but now it was slowly turning a sickening shade of black.

"Oh no… not again."

Phoenix seemed to sense her fathers panic and made to step back. Before she could more an inch Severus pounced on top of her, enveloping her tiny body in his long arms. He sent them both crashing down onto the ground. A loud explosion crashed around them and searing heat enveloped the room. After a few seconds of feeling disoriented and stunned, Severus slowly blinked open his eyes only to find Phoenix's little body curled up into a tight ball underneath him. Her eyes were wide and trained directly at his face. She seemed to be all in one piece with not a scratch on her tiny frame.

"Daddy," she whimpered, her eyes beginning to glaze with moisture. "I'm…I'm…"

Severus was frozen. Frozen with anger. Frozen with fear. His lab was ruined. Not to mention countless expensive potions…gone. He raised his head back to get a look at the little monster who had messed everything up and was just about to snap at her to get out when he froze once again. Tears were streaming down his little girl's face; her lip was quivering so violently that her entire body was shaking. In that moment he stopped seeing his daughter and briefly saw his wife. He was bombarded by flashbacks to that moment so many years before that he had terrified his beautiful love for doing nothing more than an accident. He had never realized just how much his baby was like his Clara and now he was about to make the same mistake again and let his temper get the best of him.

"Oh, Phoenix," he sighed. "Baby, look at me."

"I'm so sorry, daddy."

"No, sweetheart, it is okay. I know you didn't mean to do that. You're alright, baby, you're alright."

As quickly and gently as possible he scooped up his little girl and cradled her in his arms. He let her cry as he held and rocked her slowly. "I'm not mad, I'm not mad."

He waited until her crying lessened before taking her back upstairs. Her tiny hands gripped his shirt with a vice like grip as he attempted to sit her in her booster seat at the kitchen table. "Listen to me, Phoenix. You are fine and I am fine. I am not mad at you, okay?"

"But…but you always seem to be mad at me," she sobbed, still not looking at him in the eyes.

Severus' breath caught in his throat and his heart broke into a million pieces. "Is that what you think?"

Phoenix nodded her head, shaking her curly locks into her face.

"Oh, baby, that couldn't be farther from the truth. You and your mother are the two most important things in my world. I just…I just don't always know how to show it. Will you forgive me?"

The little girl gave a shy smile and once again wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Will you show me?"

"Show you what, daddy?"

"How to be a better father," he murmured quietly. "I don't know how, Phoenix. I just don't know how."

"Well…mummy always tells me that when I don't know how to do something, all I need to do is practice. Maybe you just need a little more practice."

"Perhaps I do."

Phoenix crawled up onto his lap and planted a large, wet kiss on the tip of his prominent nose. "Thank you, darling, I needed that. Now how about we have some supper and then you can pick out what we do next."

"Oh, daddy, you are in for a real treat!"

By the time dinner was consumed and cleaned up, Phoenix was nearly about to combust with excitement. "So what do you have planned for us?" asked Severus as he used his wand to put the last of the dishes away.

"Go sit in your chair and close your eyes," she requested, giving his hand a little tug towards the living room. "No peaking!"

Severus did as he was ordered and plopped into his favorite brown, leather armchair that was positioned closest to the fireplace. Keeping his eyes firmly shut he listened as the little girl scurried around like a little field mouse running back and forward from her bedroom back to the living room. He heard the distinct click of the CD player being loaded. Damn Muggle contraption. Then heard her clear her throat as soft orchestra music began to play.

"You can open your eyes now."

He opened his eyes and found Phoenix standing with her arms stretched above her head in what he assumed was some type of ballet formation. She was wearing a white, gauzy costume with little pink bows clipped in her hair. She was beautiful, just like her mother. "Are you going to give me a performance?" he questioned, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Not exactly."

"Oh?"

"The Swan Princess needs a prince."

Severus' cheeks immediately began to burn. He didn't like where this was heading.

"I want you to dance with me, daddy."

"Phoenix, that is very kind of you to ask, but I am afraid I don't know how."

"You asked me to teach you…so try."

He had asked for her help…and there was nobody else around. "You don't have to do a lot. Just lift me when I ask, and twirl me a bit. I will do all the rest."

Giving her a nervous smile he stood and shrugged off his frock coat and kicked off his shoes. If he was going to endure this torture he could at least be comfortable. Phoenix used the remote to turn up the music and grabbed his hand. "Like this," she whispered as she guided him to spin her around. "Don't worry, I will show you what to do." And she did. Never letting go of his hand she twirled and jumped, plied and pirouetted. Severus laughed deeply as the little girl squealed with delight every time he tossed her in the air.

This continued for hours. After Phoenix taught him every dance she had learned from their village's local dance school, she made up their own. Severus briefly wondered what someone like Lucius Malfoy would say if he could see him now, but then decided he didn't care. Phoenix was his gift. She was the representation of his new life and proof that he could do something right, and he wasn't going to miss out on it anymore.

The next morning, bright and early Clara arrived back to her house expecting to find both of her family members still in bed. Instead she stumbled upon a heart-warming scene. Still in their clothing from the day before, Severus and Phoenix where stretched out on the sofa fast asleep. Severus was flat on his back with his long legs dangling off the end and Phoenix was fast asleep drooling on her father's chest. Clara stood watching the pair, doing her best not to giggle out loud.

_Looks like my plan worked._ She decided then and there to keep her secret. Severus didn't need to know that Uncle Steven had only needed a dental cleaning and was in and out of the dentist in a matter of minutes. She had been noticing Severus' lack of involvement with Phoenix and had vowed to make sure they had some alone time. Insisting on taking care of her uncle in his "time of need" had been the perfect opportunity, and it looked like it had been just what they needed.

"Sleep well my ballerina. Sleep well my prince."


End file.
